How 5 of the Best Dictation Software Are Revolutionizing Companies

The best dictation software has made a breakthrough in the business and consumer worlds. Recording and transcribing meetings and conversations that take place in your office or home has now become very easy and convenient.

Thanks to this type of software, you can dictate whatever you need on almost all of your mobile and desktop devices.

According to a PwC study, 72% of online users use voice search in their daily lives. This number can easily increase in the future, as these tools will only improve over time.

In this article, I’ll feature some of the best dictation tools, including inspiring real-life case studies from companies using them. Who knows, you might find the dictation app you were looking for.

Let’s start!

Best Dictation Software With Success Stories

The list of available dictation platforms is endless. But I have simplified everything by reviewing some of the top tools, including relevant case studies where you can see how corporate businesses usem them.

1. Dragon Professional Individual

The leading business-grade speech-to-text solution.

Pros and Cons

Over the years, Dragon Professional Individual has been the gold standard of audio recognition programs and remains at the top of the chart today. Its truckload of features and customization capabilities are unmatchable.

Besides, the software features deep learning technology for its next-generation speech engine, which allows it to adapt to your environmental or speech variations even when you are dictating.

What’s more, Dragon Professional automatically masters your most used phrases and words to optimize accuracy. This is especially necessary if you work in a noisy environment or have an accent that needs to be corrected.

Thanks to the software’s Smart Format Rules, your specific items, such as phone numbers, dates, and abbreviations, appear automatically and exactly as you want them to.

Some of its key features include:

• Fast and Accurate Documentation: The software features a 99% accuracy level and transcribes your audio to the text within the shortest time possible.
• User-friendly Interface: Its user interface is straightforward, with no hidden programs or impractical features.
• You Can Do Your Documentation Anytime, Anywhere: Dragon Professional gives you 12 months of access to its Dragon Professional Anywhere app at no additional cost.
• Extended Speech Lengths and Times: With this dictation software, you can take audio as long as you want and create documents of any length, from business reports to entire books.
• Creates Custom Voice Commands: The voice commands help insert frequently used graphics and text.
• Custom Word Lists Can Be Imported and Export: Primarily apply for acronyms and other business-specific terminologies.
• Develop Time-saving Macros: Helps automate business processes and multi-step workflows through simple voice commands.

Dragon Professional Success Story

County Financial Limited, a firm offering financial planning and advisement, transitioned from tape-based dictation systems to a digital solution to enhance efficiency and document turnaround.

Faced with the drawbacks of degrading tape quality and the security risks of non-compliance with GDPR, they embraced the Dragon Professional Group software, which provided clear benefits.

Switching to the Philips SpeechAir and Dragon Professional Group not only eliminated the declining clarity and potential loss of tapes but also addressed the security concerns, providing a safe, digitalized way to handle sensitive client information.

The introduction of these tools automated transcription through background speech recognition, which significantly sped up documentation—being 99% accurate from the start, it allowed County Financial to produce documents up to three times faster than before.

Administration staff utilized Dragon Professional Group to transcribe the recordings automatically. As a result, the completion of documentation became quicker, requiring staff only to proofread and adjust the automatically generated text.

Dragon Professional Group’s implementation at County Financial not only reduced workload but also elevated the level of client service due to the newfound speed and accuracy in communication and documentation.

This strategic move towards innovative platforms like Dragon Professional highlighted a shift towards more dynamic and efficient operational processes, directly contributing to a heightened service standard and competitive advantage in the financial services industry.

2. Verbit

The smart dictation software for transcription and captioning.

Pros and Cons

Trusted by over 2000 individuals and organizations, Verbit uses AI for transcription and captioning to offer exceptional voice recognition services.

The dictation software uses various speech models with neutral algorithms and networks to lower background noise, focus on terminologies, and differentiate audios from speakers no matter the accent.

Verbit has been at the forefront of enhancing court reporting and depositions, education and disability needs, e-learning, and media production, to mention but a few.

Its key features include:

• 99% Accurate Transcriptions and Captions: It meets the ADA accuracy standards.
• Innovative Audio Search: The dictation software achieves this through phonetics.
• Live Meeting Transcripts: The software identifies the speaker during the live transcripts.
• Guideline Customization and Multiple Formatting Options: This allows you to customize and format your document to your liking.
• Interactive Transcripts: Enables you to note-take, highlight, and search.
• Language Translation Support: You can translate your text to any language of your choice.
• Live Integration: Verbit works well with Web conferencing, LMS development solutions, and media hosting platforms.
• RTMP Support: Enables live streaming and broadcasts.

Verbit Success Stories

Verbit has received high praise for its efficiency from many of its corporate clients.

In the case of Big Sofa Technologies, they found the accuracy from Verbit and the high volume of language data created transcriptions did not require further editing, plus the benefit of a good alignment with Big Sofa Technologies’ security requirements.

Sarah Arnold, Head of Operations for Big Sofa Technologies, considers Verbit as the perfect partner for what they do as a firm by being able to deliver the level of service they expect without compromising on the quality, speed, or security of any of their operations.

Another shining endorsement comes from YouGov®, frequently leveraging Verbit’s services for transcribing components like online focus groups, face-to-face focus groups, and audio calls. Crediting Verbit’s efficiency and fast transcription turnaround, they recommend it to others needing quick transcription services.

Ipsos users also highly praise Verbit, applauding its fast response times, efficiency, excellent quality and accuracy, friendly and professional customer service, and ease of use.

Viacom is impressed by the expertise, efficiency, and quick turnaround time, even for complex jobs, which has led to much greater customer satisfaction and important repeat business.

3. Speechmatics

The leading voice technology and deep learning dictation platform.

Pros and Cons

Regarding accurate speech recognition and machine learning solutions, Speechmatics takes the lead. Its APL integrates into your applications, delivering the most accurate transcription.

Unlike other speech-to-text software that struggles with accents, Speechmatics boasts itself as capable of supporting most British and American accents irrespective of nationality.

Besides, this voice recognition software regularly tests its language capabilities to consistently and accurately transcribe all languages and use cases within the shortest time possible.

Some of its most notable features include:

• Machine Learning Feature: Enables the dictation software to convert audio to text accurately.
• Multi-language Support: The software has extensive language coverage and caters to additional dialects and accents. It operates in more than 31 languages.
• Speaker Diarization: Recognize and label every speaker in the same channel.
• Major File Format Support: Speechmatics supports all major video and audio formats, reducing the time for preparing files.
• Advanced Punctuation: Offers extensive punctuation marks set for speed optimization and transcription ease.
• Speaker Change: Easily detects the change of speaker in the transcript to improve readability.
• Automatic Sample Rate Detection: Quickly determines each audio’s sample rate and employs a suitable transcription model.

Speechmatics Success Story

Speechmatics has significantly helped Prosodica, a subsidiary of Vail Systems that provides voice and audio analysis technology for better caller experiences in contact centers.

The goal of these analyses is to offer fresh insights into the nature and content of customer conversations, enabling contact centers to identify opportunities to boost efficiency, minimize customer effort, and continually measure customer experience.

One of the challenges faced was unlocking the potential value hidden within the vast amounts of voice data stored in call recordings. Extracting meaningful and actionable information from these recordings proved to be a bottleneck in improving customer service quality.

The solution was to integrate proprietary voice analysis technology with Speechmatics’ any-context speech recognition. By leveraging Speechmatics’ automatic speech-to-text features, Prosodica was able to unlock the voice data from calls efficiently. In turn, this enabled it to analyze the data and extract insights at scale.

The high accuracy delivered by Speechmatics’ Global English language pack, regardless of dialect or accent, was critical. It worked to enhance the performance of the voice technology component in the Prosodica platform.

Mariano Tan, CEO and President of Prosodica, expressed that working with Speechmatics enabled them to seamlessly provide their customers with quality automated speech analytics, which was integral to their solution. He looked forward to continuing the partnership and their shared innovation.

4. Amazon Transcribe

An outstanding voice recognition software for machine learning.

Pros and Cons

Amazon Transcribe got you covered if you want to take your business to the next level with state-of-the-art voice recognition models.

With this dictation software, you will be able to extract vital business insights from video files, customer calls, and clinical conversations and use the information to grow your business.

The software enhances accuracy through custom models that clearly understand your domain’s specific vocabulary. Besides, Amazon Transcribe guarantees safety and privacy by masking all sensitive information.

Here are some of its features:

• Automated Interactions: This is made possible through machine learning and artificial intelligence.
• Call Analytics: Helps you to get actionable insights from customer conversations.
• Ability to Create Meeting Notes and Subtitles: You can accurately capture conversations and meetings and create subtitles and notes for the broadcast content to boost customer experience.
• Boost Clinical Documentation: Amazon Transcribe Medical allows you to document clinical conversations efficiently and store them as electronic health records.
• Ability to Search and Analyze Media Content: The feature enables you to transcribe video and audio assets into searchable archives automatically.

Amazon Transcribe and Salesforce Success Story

Salesforce set out to simplify virtual appointments for patients and healthcare providers. This turned into a scalable, agile telehealth solution that’s saving time, improving personalized care, and breaking down barriers in healthcare all thanks to some heavy-lifting tools by Amazon Web Services, including Amazon Transcribe.

First, Amazon Transcribe helped Salesforce by enabling live closed-captioning of video calls. This was done through Amazon Chime SDK live transcription where live audio streams were sent to Amazon Transcribe, which automatically converted speech to text. This is key in case a patient has a hearing impairment, or to go back over the consultation at a later time.

But Salesforce wasn’t about to stop there. They wanted to offer even more to their users. Amazon Transcribe Medical, designed to add medical speech-to-text capabilities to voice applications, became an integral part of their solution.

The combination of virtual care and transcription services are a powerful use case of Amazon Transcribe that enhances the experience of patients and healthcare providers.

5. IBM Watson Speech to Text

Uniquely powerful dictation software with advanced speech recognition and formatting capabilities.

Pros and Cons

IBM Watson comes in handy in delivering quick and accurate voice transcription in various languages for a wide range of use cases.

The cloud-native solution employs deep-learning AI algorithms for language structure application and voice signal composition to develop customizable speech recognition for optimum text transcription.

At the heart of its features, it boasts:

• Automatic Speech Recognition: Uses neural technologies to enable voice applications.
• Model Training Options: They help enhance voice recognition accuracy.
• More Accurate AI: Minimizes chances of errors.
• Customization Capability: You can help the software understand your domain language and unique audio characteristics.
• Data Protection: IBM offers world-class data governance, guaranteeing its safety.
• Advanced Machine Learning Models: The software allows you to customize them to fit your use case.
• Customer Self-service Support: It is made possible through the Watson -powered virtual assistant.
• Call Analytics: Helps boost call center performance through conversation logs mining to determine developing call patterns and customer complaints accurately.

IBM Watson Success Story

IBM Watson Speech to Text has been a game-changer for Dubber, and the details shared by Steve McGoven, the CEO and Managing Director of Dubber, underline this transformation cogently.

Massive Call Volumes Handled with Ease

Dubber, sitting at the nexus of telecommunications and AI, records millions of calls monthly.

Leveraging IBM Watson Speech to Text, Dubber has dramatically magnified its capability to transcribe calls at scale, laying the foundation for analyzing a goldmine of voice data.

Elevated Transcription Quality

Focused teamwork with IBM has led to a pivotal refinement in transcription quality. Clarity about the speaker and the accuracy of what’s being transcribed allows for far-reaching insights.

Imagine being able to sift through the ocean of dialogues to pinpoint specific bits of information. That’s precision at work.

Enhanced Compliance

Working with IBM, Dubber has revamped the compliance monitoring process for one of Australia’s major banks.

Where once only a tiny fraction of calls could be reviewed for compliance, now, thanks to IBM Watson’s Speech to Text capabilities combined with Dubber’s platform, the bank can receive immediate notifications on any call across its entire operation that may raise a compliance flag.

From 1% overview to a comprehensive 100% monitoring—this is not just incremental improvement; it’s a revolution in compliance management.

Strategic Integration and Scalability

The integration into IBM Cloud speaks to the dynamic ability of Dubber to meet growing demand by harnessing IBM’s cloud services.

Additionally, through collaborations like IBM Garage, Dubber has been able to engineer a solution that isn’t just about coping with expansion but thriving because of it.

Strong Commercial Relationship

There’s another aspect to this success story, and that’s the strengthened commercial relationship between IBM and Dubber. This alliance has bloomed, creating revenue streams and delivering value well beyond initial expectations.

Best Dictation Mobile Apps

If you own an Android device, you’re probably wondering what dictation apps you can use for the best text-to-speech performance. Below are some of the top dictation mobile apps you can try out:

• Google Gboard: It supports hundreds of language varieties, facilitates voice typing, and more via Wear OS support. With the ability to correct and type in multiple languages simultaneously and ease of use with one-handed mode, Gboard stands out for its efficiency and accuracy.
• Just Press Record: It brings forth the art of seamless audio capturing and transcription in a mobile app. It empowers you with infinite recording time and transcription capabilities across over 30 languages. Essential features include a visual waveform for precision editing, iCloud integration for easy access, and high-quality audio compatibility.
• Voice Notes: It’s an Android-based app that enables quick creation of voice-dictated notes and reminders through speech recognition. It includes features like adjustment of reminder settings, categorization of notes, a variety of color schemes, and sharing capabilities. The app supports exporting notes in JSON or TXT format and reminders for important dates or tasks.
• ListNote Speech-to-Text Notes: This app converts speech into text notes, allowing users to keep track of their thoughts without typing. The application supports organization by categories and color, note sharing, and password protection for enhanced security. Other features include a fast searching tool, star filtering, and backup options on SD cards.

Other Dictation Apps Worth Considering

• Windows Speech Recognition: Microsoft’s Speech Recognition tool allows you to dictate text, such as filling out online forms or typing a letter, through voice. This tool highlights mistakes made during dictation for easy correction, offers a customizable Speech Dictionary for frequently used or misunderstood words, and ensures a simple interaction via voice commands.
• Apple Dictation: The dictation feature on Mac enables typing text through voice commands. It supports on-device processing for certain languages and dictation corrections. You can also customize the Speech Dictionary, adjust the microphone source and optionally share dictation recordings to improve Siri and Dictation functionality.
• Speechnotes: It’s a web-based tool offering efficient speech-to-text transcription and dictation services. It features voice-commanded punctuation, automatic capitalization, easy import/export, and upholds user privacy. Also provides integration with Zapier automation, an Android app, transcription API, and a selection of conversion tools.
• Voice In: It’s a Chrome extension providing a convenient voice-to-text typing tool across websites, like Gmail or WordPress. Voice In is a cost-effective alternative to expensive software, transcribing right in the browser while maintaining user privacy. Premium features are available with upgrade plans.
• Transcribe: It’s a personal transcription assistant app converting videos and voice memos into readable text. With support for 120+ languages, easy import/export, and automatic transcription, it saves time at work or school, and offers a free trial for first-time users.
• Google Docs Voice Typing: Google Docs and Google Slides’ speaker notes offer a voice typing feature that allows typing and editing by speech. You must enable your microphone to use voice commands for document editing and formatting. Voice commands are currently available only in English.
• Voice Finger: It’s a tool that allows complete control of mouse and keyboard using voice commands. Designed to enable zero computer contact, it’s particularly effective for people with disabilities, computer-related injuries, or those seeking to minimize repetitive strain. The tool also includes special features for gamers.

What Should You Look For in a Dictation Software?

Before settling for dictation software, here are a few things you should consider:

• Individual Needs: Check to ensure that the dictation software of choice meets your individual needs in regard to business applications.
• Accuracy: Look for dictation software that offers the highest accuracy percentage. It needs to understand the user’s voice and deliver a text with the right word spelling and tone. That way, you won’t spend much time correcting misspelled words and awkward-sounding sentences.
• Editing Features: The more the editing features, the better.
• Devices and Systems Compatibility: The software should be compatible with most systems and devices with browsers and internet connections.
• A Free Trial: It should have a free trial version whereby you get to evaluate the dictation software before making a purchase.
• Good Customer Support: You should get all the help you need promptly without going through many complicated procedures.
• User Experience: The dictation software’s user interface needs to be attractive and straightforward, with hassle-free steps to input your audio, save, download, and share the resulting output.
• Language Support: Most dictation software only support a limited set of languages. But if you can find one that supports more languages, that’s perfect.
• Speed and Max Length: Your business needs a voice recognition software that can take audio faster for an extended period and still deliver accurate text.

Dictation Software FAQs

While dictation software has been around for some years now, experienced and novice users alike still have challenges understanding some key things about them. Some of the common questions users always ask include:

What is a dictation app?

A dictation app is a technology with a speech-to-text recognition feature that enables you to transcribe spoken words into text. The technology has significantly advanced over the years, allowing you to dictate documents with up to 99% accuracy.

What is AI-based voice-to-text software?

AI-based voice-to-text software is a technology that uses Artificial Intelligence to carry out advanced speech analysis. It automatically identifies and eliminates background noise during transcription.

How does a dictation app work?

A dictation app functions by analyzing a speech recording and then breaking it down into individual sounds. After that, the software uses an algorithm to determine the ideal word that fits in the language, transcribing the sound into text. And not only that, but it may also help you generate subtitles for your video content.

Why should I use dictation software?

You can use dictation software to save time, enhance efficiency, and boost productivity. It will also help you to create well-organized work.

What’s the best dictation software for beginners?

The top dictation apps for beginners include Speechmatics, Google Gboard, Just Press Record, Voice Notes, and ListNote.

What is the best free dictation software?

Voice In free plan is the best free dictation software. The software features a wide array of advanced features that functions well on various platforms and websites, including writing emails with Gmail, responding to chats, and answering assignments.

Conclusion

With the many dictation software available, determining the most suitable for you can be an uphill task. Luckily, this detailed selection with its case studies has simplified everything to enable you to settle the best deal.

But if you are undecided on which dictation software to opt for that will give you value for money, I recommend Dragon Professional Individual. It offers state-of-the-art features with seamless customization capabilities.

For the best free option, I would pick Voice In. It brings to the table robust features at no cost, and it is compatible with many platforms and websites.

All in all, ensure the dictation software of choice meets your individual needs.